Government: IT Contracts

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by the Department for Transport and its predecessors since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification.

Lord Adonis: Since the Department for Transport was formed in May 2002, the following information technology framework agreements and contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by the Department for Transport and its executive agencies:
	
		
			 Contract Contract Details Contract Award Date Contract Term Estimated Total Contract Value (£m) 
			 VOSA & Atos Origin Outsourced ICT — ICT contract for the provision of a range of business solutions including IT Systems. Jun 2002 9+ years 77.5 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency & IBM UK Ltd Partners Achieving Change Together (PACT) - framework agreement for changes to and development of current and future DVLA IT systems. Sept 2002 10+ years 437 
			 Highways Agency & Genesys (Fluor/Mott MacDonald) The National Roads Telecommunications Service (NRTS) project includes an important IT element to carry data from roadside traffic control centres. Sept 2005 10+ years 651   (Not all IT related) 
			 Highways Agency & Atos Origin Outsourced ICT — ICT contract for service desk, desktop, network and applications. Dec 2007 5+ years 84 
			 Highways Agency & Carillion Construction Active Traffic Management Birmingham Box - this is a civil engineering and infrastructure project that includes a significant IT element which cannot be reported separately to enable dynamic hard shoulder running and variable speed limits. Aug 2008 2.5 years 75.6   (Not all IT related) 
		
	
	Note: The values quoted are the estimated value or maximum value of anticipated spend over the whole life of the framework agreement or contract.
	Information relating to which of those contracts have been completed to budget, to time and to specification is not available centrally within the Department for Transport. This information could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Government: IT Contracts

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government which information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over have been entered into by HM Treasury since 1997; and which of those have been completed to budget, to time and to specification.

Lord Myners: Since 2002 HM Treasury has not entered into any information technology contracts with a value of £50 million or over.
	As a result of the introduction of a new accounting system in 2002-03, provision of information prior to that date could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Immigration

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government (a) how many individuals wishing to enter the United Kingdom via the Eurostar service from Paris have been refused entry by United Kingdom immigration officials over the last four years due to falsified or invalid documents; and (b) following such refusals, on how many occasions have the same individuals reappeared with identical documents on a subsequent occasion.

Lord West of Spithead: (a) The total number of passengers that were refused leave to enter the United Kingdom at the juxtaposed controls in Paris from 2005 to 2008 was 9,069. 1,475 of these refusals were due to inadequate, falsified or fraudulent documents.
	(b) All travel documents that are presented to UK Border Agency officers at the juxtaposed controls that are deemed to be falsified or fraudulently obtained are immediately seized by UK Border Agency officers and subsequently passed on to the French Police Authorities. The only exception is in the case of a British falsified or fraudulently obtained document; these would be seized and passed to the National Document Fraud Unit or Identity and Passport Service in the UK. In all cases, the presented documents are not returned to any individuals. We have no record of any individuals reappearing with the same documents being re-presented for entry into the UK.
	(These figures have been sourced from locally collated management information held within locally accessed computer systems and do not represent National Statistics. They have not been the subject of National Statistics protocols and verification and should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to change.)

Immigration

Baroness Warsi: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have (a) applied for, and (b) been granted, indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom under immigration rule 276B(i)(a) and rule 276B(i)(b).

Lord West of Spithead: The attached table below shows the number of in-country applications for indefinite leave to remain on the grounds of 10 years and 14 years long residency since April 2003. It also shows how many of those applications were subsequently granted indefinite leave to remain on this basis.
	The figures quoted are not provided under national statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. The individual figures and have been rounded to the nearest five.
	
		
			 10 Years Long Residency 
			 Applications Granted 
			 22,635 13,625 
		
	
	
		
			 14 Years Long Residency 
			 Applications Granted 
			 19,495 3,530

Immigration

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what ways the Gateway Programme and the Mandate Refugee Programme assist the re-settlement in the United Kingdom of refugees from Iraq, particularly those who have worked for United Kingdom armed and diplomatic services; and whether they are providing details of these programmes to other European Union member states.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK operates the Gateway Protection Programme and Mandate scheme to provide settlement to refugees from around the world, including Iraqi refugees. To date, the Gateway Programme has assisted more than 430 Iraqi refugees to resettle in the UK, of whom more than half worked for the United Kingdom armed and diplomatic services or are their dependants.
	We regularly share information about our resettlement programmes with other European Union member states within the auspices of the global UNHCR annual tripartite consultations on resettlement and more informal information-sharing networks.

Internet: Social Networking Sites

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether further legislation will be required to allow the retention of communications data in relation to social networking sites.

Lord West of Spithead: The Government will shortly be seeking the views of the public on how to ensure that communications data continues to be retained and made available lawfully, on a case by case basis, to public authorities. Any legislative proposals the Government decide to take forward will depend on the outcome of that process.
	Communications data is information about a communication, but not its content, whether it is made by telephone, e-mail, mobile phone or through communications services provided by some social networking sites.

Police: Identification

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government why police officers are required to show identification numbers when on duty; and under what legislation this requirement was introduced; and
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there are any circumstances when police officers on duty are permitted to cover up their identification numbers; and, if so, from whom the officers have to obtain prior approval; and
	To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions in the last two years officers of the Metropolitan and City of London Police forces have been permitted to hide identification numbers; and what were the reasons for each permission being granted; and
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what disciplinary action is normally taken against police officers who cover up their identification numbers on duty without permission.

Lord West of Spithead: The displaying of identification numbers is not required by legislation. This is a matter for individual Chief Constables and force level guidance. Contravening force guidance on this, as other issues, is a disciplinary offence and cases are handled in line with the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2008.

Railways: Wheelchair Users

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that train operating companies increase the number of spaces available for wheelchair users.

Lord Adonis: 42 per cent of the national train fleet has been built to modern accessibility standards, which include a requirement for a certain number of wheelchair spaces per given length of train. These standards were developed following consultation with disability groups including the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC), the Government's statutory advisors on the transport needs of disabled people.
	In addition, almost all older vehicles have featured improved accessibility, including for wheelchair users, when they have undergone refurbishment.
	In 2008, the Government set an end date of 1 January 2020, by which time all trains must be accessible. This is some 15 years earlier than would occur naturally through normal fleet replacement and we are already working closely with the rail industry to deliver this commitment.

Turkey

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will send an observer to Diyarbakir, Turkey, for the trial of Mrs Leyla Zana (due to be resumed on 2 June 2009), or arrange for a rota of European Union official observers.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Our Embassy in Ankara is following the trial of the former Member of Parliament Mrs Leyla Zana closely and will liaise with other EU colleagues to ensure that there is a representative present from an EU member state embassy to observe proceedings when the trial resumes on 2 June 2009.
	As part of our bilateral relations the UK has consistently stressed to the Turkish Government that while we condemn all acts of and support for terrorism, the non-violent expression of legitimate views should not be prosecuted.

Window Blind Safety

The Earl of Mar and Kellie: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will accept in full the recommendations emanating from the fatal accident inquiry at Alloa Sheriff Court into the death of Muireann McLaughlin; and, whether they will use their existing powers to end the use of looped cords for blinds and curtains.

Lord Carter of Barnes: The sheriff has not yet made a determination on the fatal accident inquiry into the death of Muireann McLaughlin. This department will carefully consider any recommendations made in the determination and how best to deal with those recommendations.

Worker Registration Scheme

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their intentions regarding the future of the Workers Registration Scheme for migrant workers from the European Union.

Lord West of Spithead: On 8 April the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration announced that the UK Government would retain the Worker Registration Scheme for a further two years. This decision was taken following receipt of advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee. A copy of their report has been placed in the House Library.
	Retaining WRS will help protect our labour market at this difficult time. It will also mean that the UK can continue to collect A8 data to determine whether further steps may be needed over the next two years to prevent disruption of the UK labour market. The Government will review this decision in 12 months' time.